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Bolton Abbey · 4 checked

Dog-friendly walks in Bolton Abbey

Boots on. These are the Bolton Abbey walks worth the drive, with lead rules and livestock warnings marked.

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176 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 1.6 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Bolton Abbey Priory Trail

Bolton Abbey · BD23 6EX
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1.6MILES
90%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

The gentle riverside circuit around the ruined priory and the stepping stones over the Wharfe, the best-known short walk in the southern Dales. The estate states that well-behaved dogs are most welcome but must be kept on a lead along the Priory Trail. Water taps and dog tethering points are provided outside all three estate shops, though only assistance dogs may go inside them.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
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176 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 1.8 MI · OUT & BACK
SOME LIMITS

Strid Wood and the Strid

Bolton Abbey · BD23 6AN
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1.8MILES
95%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

Ancient oak woodland running north from the Cavendish Pavilion along the Wharfe to the notorious rock chasm of the Strid, with waymarked trails through the trees. The estate requires dogs to be on a lead throughout the wood; outside the woodland they should walk to heel. Keep well back from the water at the Strid itself, which is far deeper and faster than it looks.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
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880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 4.6 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

The Strid and Barden Bridge

Bolton Abbey · BD23 6AN
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4.6MILES
2:15TIME
105mCLIMB
95%OFF-ROAD
Water bowls

Four and a half miles and a little over two hours along both banks of the Wharfe through Strid Wood, past the notorious rock chasm of the Strid to the seventeenth-century Barden Bridge and back; the paths are broad, largely surfaced and good in winter, with a few flights of steps. Start at the Cavendish Pavilion car park, which is pay-and-display and included in the estate parking charge; the 74 bus from Ilkley and Skipton stops at Bolton Abbey. Dogs must be on a lead throughout Strid Wood to protect the ground flora, there are water taps and dog parking outside all three estate shops, and dogs are banned from Barden Moor and Barden Fell; keep every dog well back from the Strid itself, where the current has drowned people.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
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440 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 3.4 MI · OUT & BACK
SOME LIMITS

The Valley of Desolation and Posforth Gill

Bolton Abbey · BD23 6AN
No reviews yet
3.4MILES
1:50TIME
180mCLIMB
95%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

Three and a half miles there and back in a couple of easy hours, following Posforth Gill up a wooded ravine past a pretty waterfall to the moor wall, on a path that is stepped, rooty and slippery in the wet but never difficult. It starts from the Cavendish Pavilion on the Bolton Abbey estate, where parking is charged and fills fast; the estate is served by the 74 bus from Ilkley and Skipton. The important thing for a dog owner is where this walk stops - the Bolton Abbey estate does not permit dogs on Barden Fell or Barden Moor at all, so you must turn back at the moor gate and Simon's Seat is off the table, and dogs must be on the lead on the woodland paths below; the gill runs clear and gives a good drink the whole way up, there are no stiles, and sheep graze the open pasture between the woods.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›

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